


Just Getting By

by Nerdsmcgee



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adoption, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Batfamily Feels, Blood, Drug Dealing, Drug Use, F/F, F/M, Gen, Help, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Loss, M/M, Major Character Injury, Older Characters, Platonic Cuddling, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slice of Life, Underage Prostitution
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-15 23:54:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14800343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nerdsmcgee/pseuds/Nerdsmcgee
Summary: Mary McGinnis died two days after Terry McGinnis graduated from highschool, leaving the fledgling adult to care for himself aswell as his kid brother. Having no choice but to adapt, Terry and Matt scrape by, barely making ends meet. Shit hits the fan and the two resort to more ... unconventional methods of sustaining one another. They get into trouble- big time trouble- but not before their saving grace takes them under his wing.





	Just Getting By

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting any serious (anything really) fanfiction, so please, advice is well received. Im noy sure how I'll go with this but I need more McGinnis babies so yeah. Enjoy : )

The call came around three in the morning, an hour and some change before Mary McGinnis was supposed to return home. Working a later shift meant coming home at ungodly hours, which wasn't uncommon for the small family of three. Hell, after years of working the graveyard shift, it was stranger having Mary return before midnight than anything else. But it was okay. They always found a way to spend time together as a family, even despite Mary and Terry working odd hours.  
The phone call was short and bitter, the officer on the other side having no compassion or sympathy, cutting straight to the point of the call. Hanging up immediately, Terry wasted no time gathering a jacket for himself and his kid brother.  
"Shit shit-" He swung Matt's bedroom door open with little care for the wall behind it, "Matt, hey, kiddo," Terry shook the boy awake none too gently, "Matty, wake up, we gotta go."  
The child, despite being just barely on the edge of conciousness, got up and followed his brother to the living room and allowed him to dress him in whatever jacket he was holding. Terry ushered him out the door and down the steps, the little boy tripping over himself trying to keep up with Terry's pace.  
"Can you walk any slower, kid? Jesus." Muttering to himself, Terry turned to face the lagger, making said boy run face first into his legs. Had the situation been any different, he may have laughed and found humor in Matt's lathargic and barely functioning self, but right noel he couldn't. They had somewhere to be, pronto. With a grunt, he heaved Matt into his arms and continued his way down the steps until they reached the ground floor. It was there Terry saw the arrival of flashing blue and red lights dancing through the glass doors and windows in the main lobby.  
She was caught in the crossfire of some gang war, the officer said. She died just before the ambulance carrying her made it to the hospital. She was already unconscious from blood loss, and the shock supposedly kept the pain at bay. The woman who helped stem the bleeding and called 911 at the scene said she kept asking about her boys. Said she need to get home- she had a suprise for them. The lady said Mary just- fell asleep. But she didn't wake back up.  
Terry never did find out what the suprise was. He wasn't sure he wanted to. He never got to thank the woman who kept his mother company in her last moments, either. Again, he wasn't sure he wanted to. The thought of facing some strange person and talking to them about the woman she witnessed die just seemed wrong and made his stomach turn. Terry just wanted to go back a coupla hours and spend more time with her, and Matt, as a family. Just one last time. But he knew it was a fruitless fantasy.  
The pair had to step it up, barely getting by despite the side jobs Terry took on- the extra shifts at the automachanic repair shop weren't cutting it. He flat out refused to have his twelve year old brother working in some shady gas station. Hell no. He didn't want the kid working at all- he was supposed to be working on homework and worrying about girls and all that shit. Not how much food they'll have on the table and if it'll be enough. It never is. Matty took up a little job at the book store around the corner. It wasn't ideal since the owner was kind of a crack headed looney, but it was better than nothing, he decided. It helped. That was all Matty wanted to do.  
Almost three months in and things started to look up. Terry was exhausted- both physically and mentally, but Hell, they were actually making it. They were carving a life for themselves. And for just a moment, Terry could smile and think that Mom would be proud. Life was brighter.  
He knew he spoke too soon when Matt came home with a bruised cheek and a bloody nose. His excuse was a sorry one at best: " I, uh, a book. Fell on me. From the top shelf."  
Too busy to worry about his kid brother fighting after school, Terry hoped he could sort it out himself. He was a tough kid, and knew of some self defense should he need it. No matter how much he hated how he resorted to such adult method of handling a seemingly childish problem, he literally could not afford it. He guessed he was an adult now.  
He caught glimpses of Matt talking to strangers on the corner, exchanging little white bags for tight green rolls. He prayed his kid brother wasn't doing what he thought he was.  
Unfortunately he knew. And the business only grew with him.  
Dealing was a pain in the ass sonetimes, especially when the odd unsatisfied customer came about- but he delt with it. He could handle a few guns and knives as long as Matt didn't have to. Besides, it paid good. Great infact. He knew the moment He and Matt sat down one evening and ate an entire meal and didn't have to worry about where the next one was coming from, that there was no going back. There was way too much at stake for them to go back- not that they could at this point anyway, even if they wanted to.  
The Law was a big issue. If the authorities caught on to what he and Matty were doing, it was game over. They'd be separated and would most likely never see eachother again. If they left this business willingly, which was doubtful, then it was back to double shifts and graveyard shifts and just less time he'd have keeping an eye on his idiot brother. Less food. Less money. Less everything. He couldn't have that.  
He and Matt were worse for ware by the end of the year, but they were okay. His mother would slaughter him had she known what they were up to, and he would wnat her to, but it didn't matter right then, because for once, they were okay.  
Matt was thirteen when he asked Terry a question he would never forget. It was random and seemed kinda weird, but not too far fetched of a question a teenage boy would ask. But the shy and almost nervous way he asked made something in Terry's chest clech and squirm in his gut.  
"What's a, uh, prostitute... and is it bad... to do, I mean?"  
It was more of a cry for help, than anything. He was scared and embarrassed. It made Terry ache.  
"It's something people do when they're at their all time low and have no other option, financially... but it's not a good job to have, okay?"  
Terry made Matt promise to tell him if any of their customers wanted something other than their usual order. He made him promise to tell him if any of them touched him.  
He hated how Matt paled and slunk back.  
Terry knew smoking was not a good habit to pick up, but damn if it didn't help. He made damn sure Matt was kept out of the ring for a while after he asked about prostitution. He didn't want to think of what his kid brother could have been forced to do had he not intervened. Bookkeeper didn't seem to mind as long as the revenue was still the same. Terry had no problems with that. He could handle the extra load.  
A new face moved into the apartment opposite of them. He was tall, dark, and handsome. The white streak in his hair reminded Terry of some punks at school, but did nothing to deter the man's natural appeal. If anthing, it was kinda charming.  
The handsome stranger across the way came over one afternoon, knocked on the door, and asked if he could borrow some sugar.  
It was the lamest excuse to talk he has ever heard. It worked, though, so he could only say but so much.  
The two became fast friends. Something clicked and sparked between them, something that made Terry uncomfortable but excited and warm simultaneously. He didnt want to trust this man- or anyone ever again really- because it was bound to lead them even more astray. But something between them stuck and fester ed until paid mind, and soon, he became attached. He had an instant connection with the man, wether he liked to admit it or not, only adding to their bond. It was odd, their dynamic at first, to say the least, but after a few late night smoke sessions and a kiss later, they found their niche.  
But Jason found out about his other income source and, to say the least, he wasn't pleased.  
"Look, Ter, I know how stubborn you are. How much you want to protect Matty and how -and how any help seems like a trap, but please, believe me- i want ti help you. Let me help you."  
Terry had him on radio silence for a couple of weeks after that. He didn't know how to respond because he seemed so damn genuine and just- he couldn't because then they'd be in debt and there was no way in hell Terry was risking Matt like that.  
It was when Matt came home crying from the Bookstore one evening, bloody between the thighs and shaking, did Terry take Jason's offer to heart.  
He knew they needed to go now- before it got worse (not that it possibly could).  
That was when Terry found himself taken under the wing of Bruce Wayne.


End file.
